


S4 E5 Debate Camp

by JDPostEpisodeChallenge, kcat1971



Series: Josh & Donna Post Episode Challenge [33]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-07 17:03:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15912540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JDPostEpisodeChallenge/pseuds/JDPostEpisodeChallenge, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcat1971/pseuds/kcat1971
Summary: AU Short story written for the JD Post-Episode Challenge by kcat1971.Why didn't we see Donna at the Debate prep in Season 4?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Newly updated with chapter 3- a prequel explaining what happened after 20 Hours In America. Chapter 3 is rated M.

Donna is laying on the bed still dressed in yoga pants and a sweater. The lights are low. She's got a folded wash cloth covering her eyes. Her hands rest on her stomach.

He can't tell if she's asleep. It's barely 9 o'clock. But she skipped dinner, said she didn't feel well and came back to the room to lay down.

He closes the door lightly and walks over to the bed and just looks at her for a few minutes. His heart swells. God, she's beautiful. After staring at her a minute he realizes that she _does_ look paler than usual. Maybe he should have brought her some food?

He stands there and smiles to himself. Seeing her in his bed just feels so right. He'd like to shout the fact that they are finally together from the roof tops. But as she's told him repeatedly over the last 2 months, the timings not quite right. They can start talking about it after the re-elect.

At least she made the arrangements so that they could have adjoining rooms. That's not nothing.

He decided that she must be asleep, and must need her rest, so he turns and is about to leave when she says "What? No kiss goodbye?"

He grins, turns back to the bed, then leans down and places a gently kiss on her lips. "Time to wake up, sleeping beauty."

She takes the cloth off her eyes and sits up. Then she leans back against the headboard and pats the bed next to her. "So how is Debate Camp going?"

He sits down on the edge. He can stay for a few minutes and talk.

"CJ made me do that which I did not want to do." He says with a grimace.

"You called Amy?" Her stomach rolls. Everything is so new. She feels so uncertain. And when you add Amy into the mix, well, if she wasn't already feeling sick this would do it.

"Yeah, we needed a better answer for the Family Leave question."

"Did you flirt with her?"

"I wouldn't call it flirting."

"You never do."

Even though it's just their normal bantering, something about her tone seems a little off. And given their new relationship, he wants to be honest with her.

"Yeah, I probably d _id_ say something stupid. . . . I told her she'd never lose me when she was afraid she'd drop the call if she went inside."

He sees the pain in Donna's eyes. This relationship is still new enough that she's not sure where she stands, and when he says stuff like that to someone else, well yeah, it was a stupid thing to say. How can he make it up to her? How can he convince her it's different with them?

He talks a big breath. He's about to apologize and tell her that old habits die hard, when he notices that she's taken a big breath too. So he waits to see what she has to say.

"Speaking of having a good answer to the Family Leave question. . . we're going to need that soon."

Oh good. She's letting it go. Moving back into work mode.

"It's going to be fine. Amy gave us something to work with, they're tweaking it now. We'll be done with it before the debate."

She takes another deep breath.

"No, I mean WE'RE going to need to figure it out. . . for ourselves, in about 8 months."

His jaw falls open. He's absolutely stunned.

She watches him carefully. And tries to hide her shaking hands under the covers. Will he think she's trying to trap him? Who else gets pregnant the first time she has sex with her boss? How stupid could she be? Getting carried away and not using protection? How cliché.

She drops her eyes. Unable to look at him while he's processing her bombshell.

Finally, they speak at the same time.

"Oh my god."

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

At the same moment that the panic fades, and the sheer joy of Donna having his baby hits him, he realizes that her eyes are downcast, that she's physically shaking, and that she just apologized to him.

She's anticipating anger. And it occurs to him that for as well as they know each other, they don't know each other all that well.

"I'm sorry." She whispers again. Still not making eye contact.

"Donna, I love you. You're having my baby?"

She looks up at him hopefully. He didn't sound angry. More like amazed.

"Yes. You remember the first time we made love?"

His face breaks out in a goofy grin. Does he ever! They spent 20 hours trying to get out of Indiana and then ended up back at his place. He had promised her the longest bath of her life, and his tub is way better than hers. When he'd invited her to share the bed, he hadn't been planning on seducing her. They were both exhausted, neither of them would sleep as well on the couch, and it wasn't like it was the first time they'd shared a bed platonically.

But then in the morning they'd reached for each other, and in a moment everything had changed. It had been perfect. It had been right. He hadn't even thought about a condom.

"We made a baby?"

"Yeah, we did."

He fights back his grin and manages to keep his "I'm da man" comment to himself.

But she interprets it as regret.

"I'm sorry. I know this whole thing is new. And we haven't even figured it out yet, and we haven't told anyone. I swear to god, I'm not trying to trap you. It was an accident. I'm sorry."

He slides closer and takes her hand. "Hey! Stop apologizing. I would never think that you were trying to trap me. And while this is new, and yes while we are keeping it a secret right now, I'm not trying to figure it out. I know exactly how I feel. I love you. I wouldn't want to have a baby with anyone else."

"Really?"

"Donna, I've loved you since the day we moved into the White House."

"No way."

"Yes way. Do you remember that 21 Magazine article that you got duped into?"

"Yeah." She's a bit wary. What does this have to do with anything? "I remember how much you harassed me about it."

"Yeah, well, I remember how you got me back. You sent that guy, Michael was it?, into my office and made me believe he was from the NSC and was revoking your credentials. Did he tell you what I said?"

"He just told me that you bought it hook, line, and sinker. That you lawyered up."

"I told him I'd vouch for you with my life. I refused to discuss it with him and told him that you couldn't talk about it without a lawyer. I wanted to protect you."

"You'd vouch for me with your life?" Her voice is awestruck.

"Yes and I meant it. Here I was, finally exactly where I'd dreamed of being, and I wasn't worried about my job. I was worried about you. And all of a sudden I realized that I loved you."

"You did a good job of hiding it!"

"I know. I'm sorry about that. We could have avoided the whole Cliff/Amy fiasco. I just didn't want to be the older boss hitting on the secretary. I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that I just loved you like a little sister."

She wrinkles her nose adorably.

"Yeah, I don't love you like a little sister." He leans over and gives her a long, lingering kiss.

"A baby!?" This time he does grin at her. And she looks back at him in wonder.

"You're happy?" It's slowly dawning on her that he's not reacting at all like she expected.

"Yeah. I really am. When Toby made his announcement, I actually felt a little jealous. Now I'm excited too."

"Wait. What about Toby?"

"He just told us. He and Andy are expecting. Twins!"

"What? They're back together?"

"Well, I guess, sort of. He asked her to marry him, but she's being resistant. . . . Hey! We should get married! Will you marry me?"

She looks bumfuzzled. There's really no other word for it. And that's not the reaction he expected.

"Josh. I don't want you to ask me to marry you because you think you have to."

"I'm not!"

"I think maybe you are. I mean, proposing wasn't on your schedule for this weekend."

"How do you know? Maybe it was." He tries to tease her a little, to lighten the mood, although his heart is pounding with the desperate hope that she'll say yes.

"I know because I'm the one who types up your schedule!"

"Okay, fair point."

He stretches out next to her and places his hand on her abdomen. "Okay, so I didn't plan on proposing this weekend. But I _have_ fantasized about proposing. There have been days when work was just crazy. And as I'd watch you walk out of my office, I'd have the thought that I could follow you, take your hand and we could leave and never come back. I'd be free to declare my love for you, and ask you to marry me, and we could live happily ever after in Wichita."

"Wichita?"

"It's nice."

"They have tornados there."

"Well, where ever. I just want you to know, I have thought about marrying you. _A lot_. I'm not asking just because of the baby."

Again, she looks at him in wonder. Could this possibly be happening? Could he really feel the same way?

"I've thought about marrying you before too. But this isn't how I imagined it."

Suddenly, it occurs to him that he may be jumping the gun on all of this. She hasn't actually said she's keeping the baby. He's 100% pro-choice. He knows it's her decision. But the thought of her terminating the pregnancy is like a punch to the gut.

"Donna, are you unhappy about this pregnancy? What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I'm scared. I wasn't sure how you would react. I don't know if I can do this on my own. But the thought of having your baby . . . " She smiles a little, and he relaxes.

"C'mere." He opens his arms so she can roll into them. And he holds her tight.

"You don't have to do this alone. I promise I'll support you. Not just financially. I mean emotionally too. I would like you to have my baby. I would like you to be my wife. I would like to be a family. But it's your choice."

She sighs a little and just lets him hold her. Maybe this will all work out okay after all.

"What do we do now?" She finally asks.

"Well we have an open question to deal with."

"Right. Family leave, you should go deal with that."

"No I meant, the question I asked you before. Marry me?"

"Okay."

"Really?" He's thrilled! Now he really wants to shout it from the roof tops.

"Yes, really. I love you too. This isn't how I'd imagined it happening. And it's a little fast, but I do want to be your wife. I want to have your baby."

His face doesn't feel big enough for the grin he's sporting.

"Let's go tell CJ."

He hops up and holds out his hand. Then he remembers why they are here right now.

"Hey. Are you okay? Is your headache gone? You haven't had any dinner. Let's get something for you to eat."

"Whoa. Slow down." She smiles at him.

Josh in hyperactive mode is exhausting, although sometimes she thinks it's when she loves him the most. Because it's when she feels the most useful, it's when he depends on her. It's when he proves that he trusts her with everything that's important to him.

"My headache is gone. And yeah, I guess I could eat a little. But I'm not sure about telling CJ."

"Why not? She's our first phone call."

"Josh. I don't want to be somebody's PR problem."

"You're not. You're going to be my wife!" He grins again.

He really is convincing her that he's over-the-moon excited about this idea and not just doing the right thing.

"Couldn't we just keep this a secret until after the re-election is over?"

"Donna. I don't want to talk to CJ about strategy. I just want to share our happy news!"

But suddenly she shifts gears. "I don't know, maybe we _should_ talk to CJ about strategy, Josh. I don't want to hurt the President's chances. And let's be honest, if word gets out that two of his Senior Staffers got women pregnant out of wedlock during this administration, the right wing is going to have a field day with it."

"Yes, you're right. . . . We should get married this weekend."

Now he's bouncing on the balls of his feet. He's giving her the dimples, and it's oh so hard to resist him when he's like this. Does she want to resist him?

She _does_ want to marry him. They could still try to keep it a secret until after the re-election. But at least if it comes out, it would give the Republicans less to scream about. And honestly, she'd rather tell her Mother that she eloped than tell her that's she's pregnant.

She gives him a smile that he wants to interpret as a yes.

"Okay. Here's what we are going to do. We are going to talk to CJ and tell her our plan and get some feedback, then WE'LL make the final decision. But here's what I'm thinking. . . . while you're working tonight, I'll order some room service and research how quickly we can get a marriage license. That will probably play a large role in when and where we get married. Getting a marriage license in Washington DC might be asking to be discovered. Are you willing to go somewhere else to try to keep it a secret?"

"I'll fly us to the moon if I need to."

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but inside she's thrilled at his response.

"Okay. Get back to work. Try to stay focused. Ask CJ to meet us here when you're done for the night. I'll have a list of options of how to get us married quickly and we'll see what she thinks."

"Can I tell her why I want her to meet with us?"

"Um, yeah, okay. Because if she's going to yell and scream, you can handle that part, I probably don't need that. I only want her help if she's going to be supportive and help us with logistics."

"Don't worry. She'll be Team Josh and Donna. She might even get hats."


	2. Chapter 2

Josh waits a few hours to talk to CJ. When they are wrapping up for the night, he pulls her aside. Anticipating that there could be a lot of yelling, he waits until everyone else has left the room.

"I need to talk to you."

"What's up mi compadre? We're supposed to head over to Sam's cabin. Team Toby."

"Well, here's the thing. First I need you to come to my room for Team Josh and Donna."

" **WHAT?** "

It comes out as a screech, and he doesn't like her tone. It annoys him a little that she seems pretty eager to help Toby, but against the idea of him and Donna. But all he can do is lay out the facts and hope to bring her around.

"Donna and I have been dating for two months. We decided we'd keep it quiet until after the re-election, but something's come up and we could use some advice."

CJ's next words surprise him.

"Well! It's about time. Although I do applaud you for keeping it quiet. We're going to have enough on our hands with this Toby/Andy thing."

Okay, the good new is that CJ isn't opposed to him and Donna. The bad news is that the keeping it quiet plan has a time limit.

"Well, that's the thing. . . . It turns out that Toby and I are more alike than I knew."

CJ's eye narrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it turns out that I manned up and got that nice girl pregnant too."

He tries for a bit of humor, but CJ isn't buying it.

"I assume you mean Donna." CJ says coldly.

"Yes, of course!"

"You got your assistant pregnant?!" She says it with just a hint of disbelief, enough to clearly convey that she didn't think he was _really_ that stupid.

But nothing is going to spoil his mood. This may not be exactly how he envisioned starting a family, but within the last 3 years he _has_ imagined having kids, and they are always blonde.

"No, I got my girlfriend, who by the way is now my fiancée, pregnant. She's in my room researching elopment options because we want to get married right away. I'd like you to come over and talk us through how we can do this as quietly as possible. We'd like to avoid doing any harm to the campaign. But CJ, I gotta tell you, if you are going to upset her, or if you are going to try to talk her out of marrying me as soon as possible, then you aren't welcome. I'd love your congratulations as a friend, but I don't need your approval as a Press Secretary. If you can't give me either, then Donna and I will figure out what to do and we'll let Leo know our plans, and he'll decide if there are any professional ramifications, but I don't answer to you."

CJ closes her eyes and sighs deeply. When she opens them, she smiles at Josh.

"Okay. I put the Press Secretary away for a minute. As your friend, I'm really happy for both of you. It's really been kind of obvious for a while that the two of you are something special, but you both seemed determined to ignore it, so who was I to say anything. I'm not going to try to talk her out of marrying you. What exactly do you need me for?"

"Well, whether we should try to keep the wedding a secret. Should we get married in DC or should we go somewhere else? Should we tell the President in advance or give him plausible deniability? That kind of thing."

"Okay. I'll be there in a few minutes. Oh, and Josh, Congratulations."

When he gets back to the room, he's happy to see a tray with some empty plates. Donna's sitting at the desk scribbling on a notebook. The laptop is open to a website for St. Thomas.

"Planning the honeymoon?" He asks with a grin.

"Not exactly. But this is an option. We could fly to St. Thomas next weekend and get married there. If we take separate flights, no body will even know."

He doesn't hate the idea of laying on a beach with Donna in a very tiny bikini but this isn't really the best time to take a long weekend. And he knows that one day will not satisfy him.

"Put a pin in that one for a minute. Do we have other options?"

"There's really no waiting period in DC. We could run over to the courthouse and get a license on our lunch break one day next week. We could make an appointment with a judge and be married in an hour. But there's usually press around the courthouse so I don't know if it'll stay a secret."

"Let's not worry too much about secrecy right now. I'd like to hear all the options then we can decide which is best for us."

"Is CJ coming?"

"Yeah. She'll be here in a few minutes."

"Is she angry?"

"Not really. As our friend she's very happy for us. As the Press Secretary she's going to give us some advice. Just remember, we don't have to take it. She's not the boss of us."

Donna grins at him. He sounded a little bit like a petulant child at the end there.

The knocking on the door signals CJ's arrival, so Josh opens it to let her in. He's greatly relieved when the first thing she does is run to Donna and give her a hug.

"Congratulations! How are you feeling?"

"I was a little queasy earlier but I'm good now."

"And you want to marry this big oaf?"

"HEY!" Josh protests.

But Donna giggles. "Yes. I do. Can you help us?"

"Of course I can!"

"Okay. Well, we'd like to get married right away. But not make a big announcement. With any luck we can keep it quiet until after the re-election. I've started doing some research. There's really no waiting period in DC, but I'm a little worried about reporters hanging around the courthouse getting wind of it. Or we could go somewhere, maybe the Caribbean or Vegas. There'd be less of a chance of getting caught, but we'd be gone for a weekend."

"What do you think?" Josh asks. He really does value CJ's advice on the logistics.

"Well first of all, as the Press Secretary, I do appreciate that you are keeping it quiet. Although you know that the President would tell you not to worry about small-minded people, I do worry about them. How far along is your pregnancy?"

"8 weeks."

"So really, you might not be showing at all prior to the election. As Press Secretary, I should tell you that doing nothing is the safest bet to avoiding detection."

"CJ," Josh practically growls.

"Relax, Pal O'mine. I'm not trying to talk her out of marrying you. I'm just giving the two of you all the information. The truth is it's best for the campaign if this pregnancy doesn't come out. But doing nothing has it's risks. I presume you've been to the doctor, Donna?"

"Yes."

"Well then, there are records. The pregnancy could come out. And frankly, if it does Mary Marsh and her crew are going to immediately speculate that Josh is the baby daddy anyway. They don't need proof, and since we can't and won't deny it, the speculation will be enough."

Donna pales and CJ gives her hand a squeeze and goes on.

"I'd rather a wedding make the news. And since you WANT to get married, that makes it much easier on me."

Josh grins at her. Now she's getting somewhere.

"Okay, so when it comes to a wedding, you've got a couple choices. Get married and spin it. Make sure the news media has all the details of your love story, play on people's romantic heart strings, and ignore the speculation that he knocked you up. Most people won't care, and you won't be showing until after the election."

"But Mary Marsh and crew will still be slinging mud, won't they?" Josh asks darkly.

"Yes, but with a ring on her finger, they have less mud to sling. And I really don't think much of it will stick to the President. It just might be uncomfortable for the two of you for a while."

"What are our other options?"

"Well, the one you started with. Elope quietly and hope the media doesn't get wind of it. My standard line will be "the White House doesn't comment on the lives of staffers. You may be able to keep it quiet, but if it does come out you can always revert to spin."

"So what option do you think has the best chance of working?" Donna wants to know.

"Well. Honestly I think they have the same chance of working. It's really just a matter of which you prefer. We could put together a small Rose Garden ceremony with the President presiding and spin like crazy. Me personally, I'd love to be there. But if you don't like that idea, I think going away to elope is better than getting married in DC. I do think it will be hard to keep it under wraps if you get a marriage license here."

"Thanks, CJ. Donna and I are going to talk about what we want to do and we'll let you know once we make a decision."

"Okay. Congratulations you two. Now I've got to go join Team Toby."

"Hey CJ, right now the only people that know about this are in this room. Goes without saying, that we'd like to keep it that way, right?"

"Goes without saying"

"Thanks CJ." Donna gives her a hug and smiles gratefully at her.

As soon as the door closes, she turns back to Josh. "Well?" She starts to ask, but a dramatic yawn cuts off her question. He smiles at her.

"Well. I think you could use some rest."

She yawns again. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

"How about we talk while you put your pajamas on."

"Okay."

She heads back through the adjoining door to "her" room. He follows her and flops onto her bed. She pulls off the sweater and yoga pants and folds them up, placing them back into the suitcase.

"Start talking, Mister." She instructs, but the sight of her in just her bra and panties has him speechless.

"C'mere."

She grins at him and joins him on the bed. He starts placing gentle kisses all over her still flat stomach.

"Hello, baby. I'm going to marry your Mommy in one week."

"One week, huh?"

"Yep. Next weekend. I'm ready to shout it from the roof tops, so the Rose Garden is fine with me. But you name the place and time and I'll be there. If you want to go somewhere, I'm good with that too. I'd love to have you on a beach in a little bikini. Or if you'd rather go to Wisconsin so your family can be there, I'm willing to do that."

He shudders at the thought of surprising her conservative, mid-west parents with a shot-gun wedding. He'd rather elope and explain himself later than take the chance of someone objecting, but if that's what she wants, he'll do it.

"I like the idea of a White House wedding. That place has so much significance in our life. We can vacation in the tropics some day when we have more time. And I'd rather just tell my parents after it's already a done deal."

"Okay then we're set? Rose Garden Wedding next weekend." He starts pulling her bra straps off her shoulders, placing little kisses along her collar bone.

"Well, not quite." He stops with a little sigh, but looks her in the eyes and waits for her to continue.

"I still don't want to advertise this wedding. I'm afraid the Rose Garden is a little too conspicuous. So I have an idea."

**** one week later *****

"So, any idea why we're having Senior Staff on a Sunday afternoon?" Sam asks Toby as they head toward the Oval Office.

"No. I asked Josh yesterday after Leo told us to be here. Josh said it's need to know and we'd find out today."

"Okay."

"Is he ready for us?" Sam asks Margaret as they arrive outside Leo's closed door.

"Not quite. He said to send you around the other way. Charlie will let you in if the President is ready."

Toby shrugs and they head toward the other door. It's closed too.

"Just a minute." Charlie tells them, getting up from his desk. He opens the door a crack.

"Ready for Sam and Toby?"

"Okay, you can go in."

Josh is standing in front of the President's desk. His cheeks are a little flushed. And Toby wonders briefly if he just got a lecture. He has that look about him.

Toby starts to join Josh, with Sam following right behind. But President Bartlet waves them off. "You guys can have a seat over there. We'll be just a few more minutes."

So Toby and Sam take a seat on the couch. But neither the President nor Josh says anything else.

Toby looks more closely at Josh and realizes he's wearing a suit. His nicest one.

"Why are you wearing a suit?"

"I have something to do later." Josh says without further elaboration. But a little smile plays around his lips.

A few moments later Charlie and Mrs. Bartlet enter the room and take seats across from them. A White House Photographer enters behind them and stands over to the side.

Toby and Sam exchange confused looks. Mrs. Bartlet just smiles at them. Josh is bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Another minute goes by and Sam looks likes he's about to ask a question, but Toby silences him with a look and a low "Need to know, Sam."

Then Leo's door opens. CJ makes her way to a chair, while Margaret announces "They're ready if you are."

President Bartlet looks to Josh, who nods enthusiastically.

"Okay." Margaret calls back through the door. Then she joins the room, standing in the back. Neither Toby or Sam notice when she presses a button, so they are both a little surprised when soft music starts to play.

The door opens and Leo walks through it with Donna on his arm. Mrs. Bartlet stands up and everyone else follows.

Donna is wearing a white lace summer dress. It's not the kind of thing you'd think twice about unless the person wearing it is carrying a small bouquet and walking on the arm of a man who's like a second father to her. But Donna is, so it hits Sam and Toby at the same time that they are about to witness the wedding of two dear friends.

And if there was any doubt, it's erased the minute they look at Josh's face and see him beaming at Donna with the slightest sheen of tears in his eyes.

They both break into grins and it's all they can do to hold back their shouts of joy as President Bartlet begins.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Joshua Lyman and Donnatella Moss."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Several reviewers (on another forum) asked for the prequel to the post-episode story for Debate Camp. Your wish is my command. This is set immediately after 20 Hours In America ends. It's a little more mature than what I usually write. I hope you like it. ~kcat1971  
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

When they finally get to the bullpen, he speed walks straight into his office. There's so many things to do. No time to waste. He sits down and let's his brain start working on fixing things. It's probably only a few seconds, but it seems like longer before he sees her trudge by the door. She's definitely not eager to be here. A few minutes later, she's back. Walking slowly into the office and handing him a stack of voice mail messages.

She looks exhausted.

But here she is. Assisting him. Even though he said she could go home. Even though he knows she wants a bath. Even though she's practically dead on her feet.

Once again it hits him. She's extraordinary. The things she does. The lengths she goes to for him. And for a pittance of a salary. She'll never be able to afford college as long as she has to live in this town.

He's got to fix that. But first, he has to fix something else.

"Hey. Let's go."

"What?"

"Come on, I'll drive you home."

"Your car is here?"

She actually perks up a bit at that news. He doesn't always drive. In fact he frequently walks, but the flight was early and he was running late yesterday, so yeah, his car is here, and he can give her a ride instead of her taking the Metro or a cab.

As soon as they slide in, she sighs and leans her head against the leather headrest, her eyes closed. A small smile plays on his lips as he sees how quickly she makes herself comfortable.

He starts to head towards her place, but then he has a better idea.

"Do you want to use my tub?"

"What?"

"You said you wanted a bath. You can use my tub. It's better."

She thinks about it. After the bath she could call a cab. He really does have a good tub. It's deep and it's got those jet things. And there might still be some lavender bubble stuff in the closet. It's not really a hard choice at all. She doesn't even open her eyes as she answers.

"Okay."

So she misses the way his smile grows into a grin as he changes direction and heads home.

When they get there, he walks straight into the bedroom while she heads toward the kitchen. She opens the refrigerator door then roots around for a minute but only finds a six pack, no white wine. After thinking it over, she decides it's not a good idea anyway. She'd probably pass out and then he'd have to drag her out of the bath. She blushes just thinking of it. Yeah, not a good idea.

She waits a couple more minutes, then hollers "I'm coming in! You decent?" before walking into the bedroom. He's taken his coat and tie off, but otherwise hasn't gotten too comfortable.

"There's some stuff for you." He gestures towards the bed. "I'm going to work for a little while. Take as long as you want. You can just crash here when you're done. I'll take the couch."

He rushes through his little speech then heads back to the living room before she can say anything else. She picks up the boxers and t-shirt and walks into the en suite.

The water's already running into the tub. And there are bubbles. It already smells like lavender. His sudden kindness is a little overwhelming. She feels tears prick the back of her eyes, but fights them off. It's times like this she has a hard time remembering that she shouldn't have a ginormous crush on her boss.

She slides into the tub and lays her head back and closes her eyes. She tries to remind herself of all the times he drove her absolutely crazy over the last 24 hours. Being a little flirty with Cathy, but at the same time missing the value of small town life. Bickering with Toby about campaign strategy and forgetting they have an opportunity to do good. Insisting they get out of the car a couple blocks from the hotel because Toby was reading out loud! Deciding to go back to the White House because once he decides to do something he can't wait another minute.

But she can't seem to stop thinking about all sweet moments. Sitting in the back with Cap, so her hair wouldn't get too messed up. Letting her have the front seat in the jeep. Stopping for lunch because she was probably hungry. Giving her his jacket to shield her from the rain. Buying her a sweatshirt from the hotel gift shop because she looked cold. Bringing her home. Running her bath. Looking at her with those eyes!

Ignoring her feelings is getting harder every day.

Josh is trying to work. He really is. He's biting his pencil in between scribbling ideas on a legal pad. There has to be a way to make this work. People like Donna should get to go to college. She's so smart. And she works so hard. And she's so beautiful. Whoa. He shakes his head, he really shouldn't think of her like that. At least not until after the election. But not thinking about her is getting harder and harder.

Suddenly she's standing before him. Her hair is wet. And she's wearing his clothes. And, there's really no way not to think about how gorgeous she is.

"I'll take the couch." She offers with a huge yawn. She's so adorable.

"No. Take my bed."

"Josh. Your back can't handle sleeping on the couch. And you need to get at least a few hours sleep."

"I'm too spun up anyway. Seriously. Take the bed. I'll be fine."

"I'm too tired to argue with you. I'll take the bed. But only if you make me two promises."

"Okay."

"You haven't heard what they are yet."

"Right."

"You'll only stay up another hour. And then you'll join me in the bed."

The offer hits him like a lightening bolt. And he has to remind himself that's not what she meant. Time to distract and divert.

He wiggles his eyebrows and smirks at her. "You drive a hard bargain."

His innuendo washes over her as she realizes what she said. Time to deny and deflect.

" _Josh_. To sleep! Geez. It's not the first time we've slept in same the bed. It's plenty big enough."

"Okay. I promise. Go to sleep. You need your beauty rest."

"Jerk." She slaps him lightly on the arm, then places a gentle kiss on his temple without thinking about it.

She pads off toward the bedroom and crawls under the covers. Inhaling deeply, she relaxes at his scent and falls asleep almost instantly.

Meanwhile, Josh switches to overdrive to avoid thinking about the thinly veiled banter. He's going to find a way to make college tuition cheaper. Donna deserves to have a chance to go to college without going so far in debt she'll never recover. She shouldn't have had to face the obstacle of deciding whether it was worth the mountain of debt to pursue higher education. He keeps scribbling ideas on the yellow notepad until he finally feels like he could pass out. When he finally looks up, he sees that it's been over 2 hours since Donna went to bed.

She must be asleep since she isn't out here yelling at him for staying up later than she allowed. He looks at the couch and his back twinges at just the sight of it. He really doesn't want to sleep there. Plus he did promise Donna. And there's a pretty good chance that she's going to wake up before him, so he'll probably get caught if he tries to get away with it. And he really is exhausted. So is she. They've shared a bed before. He actually does sleep better with her in the room. It'll be fine.

When he comes out of his bathroom in his boxers and undershirt and sees her sleeping in his bed so peacefully, he can't help but smile. The world feels right. He's got a chance to make this a better place and a beautiful woman sleeping in his bed. What more could he want? Well, he does want more, but he's got to put it aside for now.

In the morning, as he awakes, he immediately notices several things. There is a blonde head on his chest. There is a soft hand stroking his arm. There is a long leg wrapped around his. And he's as hard as he's ever been in his life.

Something comes over him and he doesn't even think. He rolls over and takes Donna's face in his hands and kisses her like he's always wanted to. And she's kissing him back in equal measure. And then she's pulling at his undershirt. Not gently. It's off before he can even wonder how she'll react to the scar. Although it does look a lot better than the last time she saw it.

His hands are moving on their own to return the favor, and he quickly rids her of her top as well.

"Oh my god. Your breasts are magnificent!"

"Thanks!" She laughs as he latches on to one. Then her laughter turns into a low moan that gets him even harder, which he would have sworn wasn't possible.

He doesn't quite know how it's happened, but she's managed to get his boxers of him. And her hands have found him and are stroking him in a way that's going to be a problem in a few seconds if he doesn't do something.

So he lets go of her breast, and grabs the waistband of the boxers she's wearing and yanks them down her legs. And then his hand is between her thighs and his mouth finds her other breast. Then she's arching off the bed, chanting his name.

"Oh god. I need you inside me. NOW!"

That's all he's ever wanted. She pulls him to her and he sinks home. It's the greatest thing he's ever felt. And he just can't slow down. But she doesn't seem to mind.

"Josh, Josh, Josh." She's begging for more, and somehow he knows exactly what she wants.

And they reach the top together, and fall off the other side. His vision goes a little black, while she screams "YES!"

And then they float back to earth. One of them is shaking incontrollably. He realizes it might be him as he collapses on her.

"God. That was so good." She whispers hoarsely in his ear. It was. It was the greatest thing he's ever experienced.

And it hits him that he has no regrets. Except maybe they should have done this sooner.

He rolls off her and looks at her with a grin. "That was awesome. You're amazing. Please tell me we can do that again."

"Hell yeah!" She responds enthuasiastically. "You ready?"

He laughs. "I may need a few minutes. How about I make some coffee?"

"You're getting me coffee?"

"Well I assume you aren't getting ME coffee."

"Nope."

"Okay then."

He gets up and walks into the kitchen without embarassment. She watches him go.

"You really do have the cutest little butt in professional politics!" She calls after him.

She feels so good. This is just right. But the longer he's gone, the more questions circulate in her brain. What does this mean? What happens now?

By the time he gets back with two mugs, she's chewing on her thumb. He knows the sign. Uncertainty.

He hands her a cup of coffee. It's exactly the way she likes it. He sets his mug down on the side table, then slides back into bed next to her.

"Hey. I forgot to say something earlier."

"What's that?"

"I love you."


End file.
